How can effective models be replicated?
Urbanization often is not well managed, and urban development goes, in many or most cases, well beyond the territories of local city administrations. This happens for small and medium cities, which is normal for metropolitan and mega-urban regions. These ‘natural cities’ don’t have administration and coordination, which makes effective land use planning, effective and efficient infrastructure and service provision, and risk-informed planning to minimize and manage climate-related disasters very challenging. Coordinating and integrating master planning, land use, transport, and open space protection planning will result in synergies and benefits for all areas, jurisdictions, and residents. There are cases in which such coordination is practiced and in various forms of mechanisms and institutional and governance arrangements. Various models of successful national planning and urban region coordination will be shared, including top-down and voluntary approaches. Agreeing on achieving SDGs can be an incentive to coordinate across local jurisdictions.
A metropolitan area and urban region is usually formed by different separate cities and towns, bound together by powerful economic and social dynamics and building an urban continuum. The multiplicity of local jurisdictions, endowed with particular governments, makes it more challenging to plan the development of these areas and manage them properly across the different urban policy fields. Furthermore, local autonomy at the municipal level is considered a requisite of a full developed democratic polity.
Therefore, an overarching and inclusive governance of metropolitan areas requires the support or at least the acquiescence of the citizens of their constituting municipalities. Metropolitan areas often have a central city, much larger and influential than the surrounding urban towns, which provides key assets for the benefit of the whole area. However, this may also become an obstacle for metropolitan governance, as the neighboring municipalities can perceive integration as a threat of becoming dominated and/or made irrelevant by the central city. However, considering the huge challenges posed by the deep and speedy climate change, demographic and economic transitions, and growing social inequalities, there is a need for a stronger coordination of policies and governance.
SPEAKERS
Prof. Raymond Saner, University of Basel
Governance Coordination and Stakeholder Consultation of Metropolitan Cities
Lichia Saner Yiu, Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Develoment
Voluntary Metropolitan Review and the SDGs
Peter Fong, Hong Kong Public Administration Association
Developing the Pearl River Delta & Role of Public Administration
Ms Parul Agarwala, UN-HABITAT, New Delhi
Urban Governance – Democratic Decentralization in India
Atul Kaushik, Trade and Governance Expert, New Delhi
PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) project & monitoring system for metropolitan development